Module wrap removal

ABSTRACT

A system wherein plastic wrap on round bales of cotton is partially slit starting at one end of the bale and continuing to a location offset from the opposite end of the bale. One or more partial lengthwise slits allow the cotton to fall into a gin input hopper in a controlled manner and maintain the entire wrap, including any non-adhered inner tail remnants, attached to an intact circumferential wrapper portion at the end of the bale opposite the slit end. The non-slit wrapper end portion is pulled from end of the bale, and the remaining cotton material drops into the receptacle free of contamination by any wrap material.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to wrapped modules and, more specifically, to removing plastic wrap from round seed cotton modules.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Round bales or modules of harvested material such as seed cotton can be wrapped in material for bale integrity and protection. For example, cotton harvesters are being developed with on-board processing systems wherein compacted bales are formed directly on the harvester. Such a system is shown, for example, in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,032,446 and 6,263,743. The compacted bales reduce cotton loss, increase transportability and facilitate expedited handling to the cotton gin.

Additional difficulties are encountered when a bale or module of harvested material is supported within a wrap such as plastic sheet or netting to protect and maintain integrity of the formed material. When processing seed cotton, the handling system must be able to effectively separate all the cotton material from the wrap before the baled seed cotton enters the cotton gin. The cotton bales can weigh several tons and have a diameter and a length on the order of eight feet. The wrapped cotton loses bale shape integrity quickly as the wrap is removed, and therefore providing a compact and clean entry configuration while allowing full cotton removal, eliminating spillage, and providing reliable wrap removal have been sources of difficulty. When using a wrap such as polyethylene film, any wrap material not removed and entering the gin contaminates the cotton and makes spinning of the cotton into thread at the spinning mills very difficult. If plastic is found in the cotton at the mill, the cotton is often sent back to the grower's warehouse or the price is deeply discounted.

In a co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/803703 filed 18 Mar. 2004 and titled SEED COTTON HANDLING SYSTEM, a system is described wherein a cutting device severs the wrap on bales as they are conveyed, allowing the cotton to drop into a receiver. However, depending on the cut location relative to the adherence location of wrap overlap, unattached hanging inner tail remnant pieces can be formed which separate from the remainder of the wrap and drop into the receiver to contaminate the cotton. An efficient and reliable wrap removal process is needed which essentially eliminates all contamination of the ginned cotton by the wrap material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved bale or module wrap removal system which overcomes most or all of the aforementioned problems.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved bale or module wrap removal system which eliminates unattached wrap material remnants which would otherwise contaminate crop material in the bale during processing. It is yet another object which to provide such a system which is particularly useful for round bales of cotton wrapped in plastic material such as polyethylene.

It is still another object to provide an improved cotton bale or module wrap material removal system which eliminates wrap material contamination of the cotton and which provides easy removal of the entire wrap while assuring full separation of the cotton from the wrap. It is another object to provide such a system which assures that the wrap remnants remain connected and do not detach from the remainder of the wrap material.

In one embodiment, plastic wrap on round bales of cotton is partially slit starting at one end of the bale and continuing to a location offset from the opposite end of the bale. One or more partial lengthwise slits define an egress area and allow the cotton to fall into a gin input hopper in a controlled manner to prevent spillage and maintain the entire wrap, including any non-adhered inner tail remnants, attached to an intact circumferential wrapper portion at the end of the bale opposite the slit end. The non-slit wrapper end portion is the grasped and pulled from end of the bale, and the remaining cotton material drops into the receptacle free of contamination by any wrap material. All of the wrap material is connected together so the intact wrapper can be easily removed and discarded or recycled.

The system allows the wrap to remain completely connected and be easily removed from the bale in one piece. The bale wrap can be slit and removed with the bale in either a horizontal or a vertical position or in any other angular position. The partial slits define an egress area and facilitate controlled cotton release and automation of bale opening and wrap removal processes. The system easily accommodates modules and bales of different sizes, densities and moisture content.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is schematic representation of a system for processing wrapped round bales of cotton at the entry area of a gin.

FIG. 2 is an end view of a round bale of cotton illustrating an inner tail portion that is not adhered to an adjoining wrap.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a wrapped bale of cotton with the wrap slit from one end of the bale to a location offset from the opposite end of the bale.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, therein is shown a module-receiving area 10 of a crop processing facility such as a cotton gin. Multiple wrapped bales or modules 12 of harvested crop, shown as seed cotton 14, are delivered by a truck or other suitable transport vehicle 16 to a horizontal receiving conveyor 20. The conveyor 20 moves the bales 12 laterally away from the transport vehicle 16 onto an upwardly inclined conveyor 22 that moves the bales upwardly to a separating station indicated generally at 30 located above and at one side a hopper 32. The hopper 32 feeds a suction transfer pipe 34 that delivers cotton material to the gin.

The separating station 30 includes a horizontal conveyor 40 receiving the bales 12 from the inclined conveyor 22, a wrap cutting device 42, and a wrap removal device 44. The bales 12 include a wrapper 52 shown as a generally solid, continuous sheet of plastic material such as polypropylene that protects and maintains the integrity of the bales during storage, transport to the gin, and handling at the gin. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the plastic wrapper 52 is wound around the formed bale of cotton 14 starting at a location or inner edge 52 a and terminating with more than one layer of wrap at an end or outer edge 52 b. The end of the wrapper 52 b is attached to the previous layer of wrapper by an area of tacky material or by any other suitable joining method such as taping, gluing, heat sealing or stitching.

As shown, the bale 12 is a round bale having an axis 12 a. The bale wrap 52 is formed from a generally rectangular sheet of plastic and is wrapped around the compacted cotton so that the end 52 a is approximately parallel to the bale axis 12 a. The cutting device 42 provides one or more slits 62 shown by way of example at 62 a, 62 b (FIG. 3) in a direction generally parallel to the inner edge 52 a. The wrapper 52, when cut, will form an inner tail indicated generally at 52 t that is not adhered to the adjoining layer of wrap 52. By cutting parallel to the edge 52 a, the probability that a portion of the tail 52 t will be cut off from the remainder of the wrap 52 is substantially lessened.

The bale 12 includes first and second ends 64 and 66, respectively, and the cutting device 42 slits the wrap lengthwise along a length of the wrap 52 substantially less than the total length of the bale (FIG. 3) to leave an intact band 70 adjacent the second end 66 and provide a crop egress area 74 at the first end. As shown, the intact band 70 is circumferential and continuous. The slit or slits 62 begin at the first end 64 but terminate at 62 c. The length of the slit 62 is approximately 90% or less of the overall axial length of the wrapped portion of the bale 12. Therefore, the entire wrap 52 remains generally intact, even the tail 52 t, with all sections of the wrap remaining connected to the band 70. Once the bale 12 is slit and more than half of the cotton 14 falls into the hopper 32, the removal device pulls the band 70 in a direction generally opposite the egress area 72. The remaining cotton falls from the wrap 52, and the wrap can then be moved substantially intact away from the hopper 32 so that no plastic wrap material contaminates the cotton.

The cutting device 42 can include one or more knives or saw blades 82 movable against the wrap 52 and held in position as the conveyor 40 moves the bale 12 axially towards the hopper 32. Alternatively, the blade or blades 82 can be moved axially relative to the wrap 52 by a movable cutter support. It is to be understood that other suitable bale wrap cutting devices may also be used.

Although the bale 12 is shown with the axis 12 a in a horizontal attitude, the bale wrap 52 can also be slit, emptied and removed with the bale axis in an upright position as shown in FIG. 3. For upright orientation, the cutting device 42 moves the blade or blades 82 in a vertical direction to slit the wrap 52 from the bottom edge 64 towards the opposite end 66.

A splitter baffle 90 located at the input side of the hopper 32 supports the bottom of the wrap 52 as the conveyor moves the slit bale 12 over the hopper. The baffle 90 helps prevent the wrap 52 from falling into the hopper 32 and also breaks up and separates the falling cotton 14.

Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims. 

1-12. (canceled)
 13. Apparatus for removing wrap material from a bale of harvested and compacted material having a length of wrapped portion with opposite ends and depositing the material in a receiving device, the apparatus comprising: a conveyor for moving the bale towards a receiving device; a cutting device for slitting the wrapped portion along a portion of the length and leaving an intact band at one of the ends of the wrapped length so the wrap remains intact; and a wrapper removal device for contacting the wrap material and moving the wrap material away from the receiver.
 14. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13 wherein the cutting device and the wrapped portion are movable in cutting contact with each other over a length of the wrapped portion less than the entire length.
 15. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13 wherein the wrapper removal device connects to the intact band.
 16. The apparatus as set forth in claim 15 wherein the wrapper removal device moves the intact band in a direction away from the slit wrapped portion.
 17. Apparatus for removing wrap material from a bale of harvested crop material having a wrapped length portion with opposite ends and depositing the material in a receiving device, the apparatus comprising: means for moving the bale towards a receiving device; means for cutting the wrapped length portion along a portion of its length and leaving an intact band at one of the ends of the wrapped length portion so the wrap remains intact; and means for contacting the wrap material and moving the wrap material away from the receiver to prevent the wrap material from entering the receiving device.
 18. The apparatus as set forth in claim 17 wherein the means for cutting the wrapped length portion includes means for slitting one end of the wrapped length portion to provide an egress area for the wrapped crop material at said one end.
 19. The apparatus as set forth in claim 18 wherein the means for contacting the wrap material and moving the wrap material includes movable structure pulling the intact band in a direction generally away from the egress area.
 20. The apparatus as set forth in claim 17 wherein the means for moving the bale includes a conveyor, and wherein the means for cutting the wrapped length includes a slitting device opening an egress area at one end of the wrapped length. 